(CNN) – With President Obama back in Iowa today, I went back to look at my interview with then-candidate Obama in Des Moines on October 31, 2008 – only days before his election. He reflected on how far he had come in Iowa.

"There were a bunch of people out here who signed up for our campaign when we had almost no money, very few endorsements," he said. "The polls weren't good for us."

Washington (CNN) - Ola Kaso, who was born in Albania and came to America at the age of 5, described her predicament in a Senate hearing Tuesday.

"Despite my compliance with the law, there's no way I can achieve citizenship," said Kaso, now 18 and ready to start college in the fall at the University of Michigan. "Despite aspirations and hard work, I face deportation in one year."In short, she said, "I am a DREAM Act student."

(CNN) - The coalition of conservative groups behind the "Cut, Cap and Balance" pledge to oppose a debt ceiling hike without major spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment is pressuring Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman to get on board.

Huntsman, the former Utah governor, has already said he does not plan to sign the pledge, which has the backing of more than 150 tea party and conservative groups. A dozen Republican senators and 20 House members are also on board.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A day after meeting separately with President Barack Obama, the Senate's top Democrat and top Republican continued to spar Tuesday over whether increased tax revenue should be part of a deficit reduction agreement.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told reporters that an insistence by Obama and Democrats to raise tax revenue "in the middle of an economic slowdown" was blocking progress on a deal demanded by Republicans in return for their support to raise the federal debt ceiling.

Washington (CNN) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a joint resolution Tuesday supporting the limited use of U.S. military force in Libya for one year - a move sought by the Obama administration as it works to win clear congressional backing of the controversial North African mission.

The resolution, which explicitly rejects any introduction of U.S. ground troops, was approved 14-5. It now advances to the full Democratic-controlled Senate.

(CNN) - President Barack Obama took his economic recovery message on the road Tuesday, telling a group of manufacturing workers in Iowa that while times remain tough, the administration has made a series of critical investments in the country's long-term development.

He also knocked Washington's harsh partisan environment, saying that lawmakers need to start working more as a team for the country's common good.

New York (CNNMoney) - Here's what Americans can look forward to if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling in time: Treasury would not be able to pay between 40% and 45% of the 80 million payments it needs to make every month.

That's the estimate from a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington founded by four former Democratic and Republican Senate majority leaders.

(CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain responded to the departure of two top staff members Tuesday, brushing off reports they left because he was not willing to invest enough in the early primary state of New Hampshire.

"I would say that that assessment is incorrect," Cain said on CNN's "Newsroom." "I am very heavily committed to New Hampshire. I have also been to New Hampshire about 14 times since the beginning of the year."FULL POST